


Orpheus

by Greenlady



Series: The Secret Keeper [3]
Category: Smallville
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-14
Updated: 2011-03-14
Packaged: 2017-10-16 22:59:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/170305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greenlady/pseuds/Greenlady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Conner awakes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Orpheus

Orpheus  
*******

‘Wake up, sleepyhead.’

‘Huh?’ Lex started awake, looked around the room, saw no one. He rubbed his eyes, stretched. ‘Must have been dreaming,’ he said to himself.

‘Ah. You’re awake. Good.’

‘Who? Who’s that?’

‘Me,’ said the voice in his mind. ‘Clark.’

‘Clark? No. No, no, no. Do not address me directly. I forbid it.’

‘Not that Clark, Dummy. Me. The real Clark. Look inside yourself. Look at me.’

Suddenly Lex was in a sunny meadow. Clark -- Superboy, complete with blindingly garish costume -- was floating in the air before him. ‘I’m asleep,’ said Lex. ‘I’m dreaming. This is dangerous. I shouldn’t fall asleep.’

‘So you’ve been sitting up all night, in front of the fire, trying not to sleep. That is dangerous, you know.’

‘I was asleep for months,’ said Lex. ‘I need to wake up.’

‘Yes,’ said Superboy. ‘And I need to grow up. Let me grow up, okay?’

‘Huh?’

‘You’re supposed to be a genius. Act like one. Stop holding me back. I’m not a boy any longer. I should be Superman.’

‘And that’s my fault? I’m stopping you? If you want to grow up, go ahead.’

‘You are holding me back. You’re afraid that if I grow up, I’ll judge you, and betray you, and leave you -- like him. But I won’t. I promise.’

‘Promises, promises.’

‘You should have more faith. Trust me, the way your younger self trusts me.’

‘I’m not a child any longer,’ said Lex. ‘I know what people are. I’ve stopped believing in heroes….’

‘Good….’

‘… and I know exactly what will happen if I set you free. You’ll join forces with him, and defeat me.’

‘No. I promise. Between us, we will defeat him, but in the best way. And you can’t leave him where he is, you know that. It will drive you insane.’

‘I already am insane,’ said Lex. ‘I’m talking to you, aren’t I?’

Superboy smiled, a loving, gentle smile. ‘Trust me,’ he said. ‘Let me grow up, and I will fight your demons for you.’

‘Then go,’ said Lex. ‘Be free. Grow up. Fight my demons. I know you will betray me….’

‘No,’ said Superboy. ‘Give me all your trust.’

‘It’s all I have. All I have left. If you take that, I’ll have nothing.’

‘Give me all your trust.’

Lex fell to his knees in the merciless sunlight. He closed his eyes, and gave in. ‘Take it,’ he said. ‘Take it all.’

‘You won’t regret it,’ said Superboy.

 

*******************

 

Chloe nestled closer to Tess, enjoying the warmth of her curves. She reached out and stroked a soft breast, and felt Tess run her hand down Chloe’s back in return. Chloe was about to let her hand drift further down Tess’s body, when someone knocked on the bedroom door. Chloe could think of few people with the authority to do that.

‘Lex?’ she whispered.

‘Probably,’ said Tess. The woman slipped out of bed, and wrapped a robe around her naked body. She also opened the drawer in her bedside table and drew out a gun, just to be safe.

‘It’s me, Tess,’ Lex called. ‘I’m sorry to wake you.’

Tess sidled up to the door with considerable caution, nevertheless. She opened it carefully, and stepped back, gun raised and ready to fire. It was only Lex, however.

‘Again, my apologies… ladies. ‘ He smiled at Chloe, slightly, raising his hands, as if in surrender. ‘Please don’t shoot.’

Tess lowered the gun, and shrugged. ‘You’re forgiven,’ she said. ‘But what is so urgent that you had to wake me at… one in the morning?’

‘Were you asleep?’

‘No,’ Tess admitted, with a smirk that rivalled Lex’s best.

‘I apologize even more profusely, then. But I was awakened too.’

‘By whom?’ asked Chloe. She thought for a moment. ‘Martha?’ she offered.

‘No. It’s…. complicated. You know that I have the minds and the consciousnesses of Clark and Lana trapped within my own?’

‘Yes.’

‘I’ve been afraid to fall asleep lest they take over my body and do God knows what with it.’

‘Yes,’ said Chloe, again.

‘But tonight I fell asleep for a while, and was awakened by Superboy.’

‘Superboy? You mean….’

‘The Superboy you saw when you were in my mind the other day,’ Lex explained. He strolled up to the bedroom window and looked out upon the dark Metropolis sky. Then he turned from the window, suddenly. ‘You did see him, didn’t you?’

‘I did, but… but I thought he was just a figment of….’

‘My own bizarre imagination? Yes. That’s what I thought, too. But tonight, he woke me up, and insisted upon his freedom. He told me he would fight my demons for me. I was sceptical, to say the least, but he urged me to trust him. Clark -- the other Clark -- and Lana are asleep. Mostly they’re awake and doing their best to drive me insane, but right now they’re asleep. Superboy tells me this is the best time to stage a coup. He… he has a plan.’

Tess stared at Lex silently for a long moment. Then she said, very softly and carefully, ‘Lex. Boss. Superboy doesn’t really exist. He’s just a….’

‘Figment of my imagination. Tess, I know. But I can hear him talking in my mind, right this moment. Maybe he is real. Maybe he’s the real Clark Kent, and he got trapped in my mind, the same way the other one did. I don’t know. Right now, I don’t care, because I can’t go on forever with Clark and Lana in my brain, like tumours. I’m willing to try anything.’

‘That’s understandable,’ said Tess, after another pause for assessment. ‘You look better,’ she went on. ‘Stronger, somehow. Let’s go down to the lab. But I’m going to monitor everything, in person. I’m not taking any chances, and if the situation looks dangerous to me, I’m pulling you out. Got that?’

‘Got that,’ said Lex.

‘I’m coming too,’ said Chloe. ‘I have a stake in all this.’

‘And a bit of a personal vendetta?’ asked Tess. ‘Very well. We’re all awake now, and they’re asleep. Let’s take advantage of the situation.’

******************

Clark and Lana were comfortably ensconced in hospital beds, hooked up to state-of-the-art life-support systems. A video feed was monitored round the clock by a crack security force. A nurse checked up on them personally every hour on the hour. But, at this time of the night the lab was dark and deserted.

Lex turned on a light. It cast eerie shadows in the corners of the room. ‘Keep your voices down as low as possible,’ he said, softly. ‘They’re not aware of what’s happening around them, for the most part, but they’re not brain dead, as was I. Some input reaches them from the outer world.’

Chloe wheeled the Machine up to the space between Clark’s bed and Lana’s. Tess pushed a large reclining easy chair up to the same space.

‘You’re not going to be spending much time at this, one way or another, Boss,’ she said. ‘You don’t need a bed. This chair will do.’

Lex lifted a sardonic eyebrow, but otherwise didn’t respond.

‘I truly hope you know what you’re doing,’ Tess went on.

‘This isn’t like the last time,’ said Lex. ‘I’m consciously making a choice. I have allies here in the room, and in here.’ Lex pointed to his head. He sat in the easy chair, and leaned back. ‘I’ll see you soon,’ he said.

Chloe gripped Tess’s hand for a moment. Tess took a deep breath, then nodded. She went to the controls of the Machine. Chloe attached the lines to Lex’s head and then to Clark’s and Lana’s. Tess turned the Machine on….

****************

Lex fell through the long, dark tunnel of his mind. And that was boringly stereotypical, he thought. His own mind should be far more individual and creative. Long, dark tunnels. Common. His mind should be like… like a rare and glorious gemstone. Or an immortal flame. Or….

‘Or get over yourself,’ said a bright, cheerful voice. Too bright and too cheerful after that dark, boring tunnel. Lex said as much. He opened his eyes and shut them again, quickly. ‘Ouch!’ he said.

‘You should be used to this costume by now,’ said Superboy.

‘Well I am not, but I can and will choose to ignore it.’

‘Thanks,’ said Superboy, with marked irony.

‘Okay, I’m back here in the Garden of Clark and Lana. Let’s get this over with, shall we?’

‘Whoa. We have to talk first.’

‘Talk? What is this? We could have talked at any time. I didn’t have to risk my health using that infernal Machine again, just to talk.’

‘No, you didn’t,’ Superboy allowed. ‘But this way, Clark and Lana can’t hear us. Trust me.’

‘I’m not sure if I can. You are Superboy. You’re Clark, simply the Clark I remade in my mind, to….’

‘Not just in your mind. I’m real, remember?’

‘How can you be real? You’re a figment of my imagination, and….’

‘No. Not just a figment. I told you, I’m real. You have to wake me up, that’s what I called you here to tell you. I’m almost grown, almost awake, almost free. When I’m ready, I will emerge….’

‘Fully grown from my head, like Athena from the head of Zeus? Zeus survived that birth, but he was a god. I’m not.’

‘But I’m not just in your head,’ said Superboy. ‘My consciousness is in your head, but my body is elsewhere.’

‘Elsewhere?’ Lex felt a shudder pass through his own body. ‘Elsewhere? Where elsewhere?’

Superboy closed his eyes for a moment. ‘I’m in a dark place,’ he said. ‘Dark and cold.’

‘Well,’ said Lex. ‘That narrows it down.’

‘I’m close by,’ Superboy went on. ‘Very close. That’s why we can share consciousness.’

‘So… so you’re in the same building? Somewhere in LexCorp Towers?’

‘No. Not that close. Somewhere close, though.’

‘Isis,’ said Lex. ‘It’s just down the street. Lana built it with my money….’

‘Yes, yes, yes. I know she stole your money. Get over it.’

‘I don’t care about the money,’ Lex objected. ‘But she used it to spy on me, and….’

‘And she and Lionel used it for other things. They made clones, for example.’

‘You’re one of the clones?’ asked Lex. ‘A clone of Clark Kent? How….’

‘Not exactly,’ said Superboy. ‘Look at me. Really look at me. Look into my eyes.’

Lex looked. It was like looking into his own soul. ‘My God!’ he said.

‘Not exactly,’ said Superboy, again.

‘You’re my son.’

‘Your son, too,’ Superboy corrected him. ‘Your son, and his son.’

‘But how?’

‘I don’t know. I wasn’t awake for the conception.’

‘Well neither was I,’ Lex shouted. ‘I knew nothing of this. Did Clark know?’

‘Lana did,’ said Superboy.

Lex stared at him, a sort of dawning horror on his face. He was beginning to understand how this had happened. Now he wanted to know why.

‘We’ll ask Lana why,’ said Superboy, as if he read his mind. ‘But right now, I need to wake up. You have to wake me.’

‘How?’ asked Lex.

‘First of all,’ said Superboy. ‘Give me a name.’

‘A name? You have a name.’

‘I have the name they gave me. They call me Clark II. That’s not who I am, but I have no choice. As long as I am named by them, they control my fate. Give me another name.’

Lex thought, desperately, about names. This… this being, in his head, whom he had always thought of as Clark. Clark, or Superboy. He was Lex’s son, too. Until Lex named him, he was controlled… But, if Lex named him, wouldn’t Lex have control? No! His son would have free agency. Lex would never try to control his child as Lionel had tried to control him. A good, fierce, warrior’s name, that was the answer. His mother’s family, not Lionel’s. There must be no hint of Lionel. His mother’s father, grandfather…. ‘Conner,’ said Lex. I name you Conner.’

‘Conner,’ said Lex’s son. ‘I am Conner.’

‘You are Conner,’ Lex agreed. ‘I have named you Conner. Now what?’

‘Now. Now you join me in my mind, as I have joined in yours. Show me how to move. Show me how to escape from here. All I know is this room. All I know is what they told me. Lionel and Lana and Helen.’

‘Helen?’

‘Her name is Helen. She tells me she’s a doctor. That’s all I know. I know them, and some of the other people who work here. And they tell me stories. Show me pictures. But I have never seen the sky. I don’t know how to leave this room.’

‘Open your eyes,’ said Lex.

Conner opened his eyes, and looked around, and Lex looked around with him. Lex stretched out his hands, and so did Conner. Lex sat up and so did Conner. Together they stood and moved, and found a door. The door was locked, but Conner was strong, stronger than anyone now, but for Clark. Together they forced open the door, prowled the halls of Isis, found clothes other than the loose hospital scrubs Conner was wearing. In a locker they found jeans and a black T shirt. That would do for now, said Lex and Conner agreed. ‘Now,’ said Conner. ‘Call me to you. Call me by name.’

‘Conner!’ called Lex. He knew that he was calling Conner’s name with his entire being, not just in his mind. And he felt Conner answer, and together they burst out of the Isis building, and headed for LexCorp. Together they flew in the front door of LexCorp and headed for the labs.

And then all Hell broke loose.

***********************

They were all awake now, as if Conner’s wakening had brought them all back to consciousness. Clark was shouting about evil clone experiments. Lana was trying to blame everything on Lex, and when that failed on Lionel, and then on Helen. Martha was insisting that no blame be placed on herself or Clark for anything. All three of them were furious that Conner was on Lex’s side.

‘It’s Lex's DNA,’ said Lana. ‘He must be to blame.’

‘I have your DNA, too,’ said Conner. ‘I have three parents. One mother, and two fathers. I know all of you, far more than any child has ever known his parents, because I’ve been inside the minds of all of you.’

‘And you are on his side?’ asked Clark, truly amazed. He stepped back, and studied the son he shared with Lex Luthor and Lana Lang. ‘You look like me,’ he said at last. ‘Like me and Lana. But you talk like him.’

‘I have your powers, but his brain. I think that’s a good combination.’

‘So you’re going to set out to be a super villain?’ asked Lana.

‘No. I’m going to be a hero. Dad and I are going to work together, to protect the world in our own way. I know what you did to him, Clark Kent. And I know what Lana tried to do to me. And what you and Lana did to Chloe. You people need a watch dog, and I’m it. My father and I are going to keep an eye on all of you from now on. Take warning.’

‘He’s corrupted you,’ said Clark, taking a step toward Lex.

Conner stepped up in front of Lex, protectively. ‘I’m as strong as you are,’ he said. ‘And I have most of your powers. You will never lay a hand on him again. I think it’s time you left, Clark Kent, Mrs Kent, Ms Lang.’

‘This isn’t over yet, Luthor,’ said Clark.

‘No, it’s not,’ Conner answered.

Clark stared at him, hard. ‘You are my son, too. And one day you’ll realize that, and know the truth, and join me. He hasn’t won yet.’

‘This isn’t a war,’ said Lex.

‘The Hell it isn’t.’

‘It’s Conner’s life, and he has the right to live it the way he wants. I give him that right. Think about it, Conner, and choose.’

Conner turned to him and smiled. ‘I’ve already made my choice, Father,’ he said. ‘I am your Champion, and I will fight your demons for you, always.’ He held out his hand.

Lex closed his eyes for a moment, not wanting to trust in this miraculous proof of loyalty. But he was nothing if not brave, so he opened them again quickly, and took Conner’s hand. ‘I accept your allegiance,’ he replied. ‘And I promise to be a good father to you, always. ‘

Conner pulled him into a quick hug, and when he released him, the Kents and Lana Lang had gone. ‘Would you do me a favour, son?’ he asked.

‘Anything, Father.’

Lex pointed to the Machine. ‘Destroy that for me, please?’

Conner twisted the Machine into a metal sculpture, and Lex put it in the lobby of LexCorp Tower.

***TBC***


End file.
